U Mumba won in a thrilling fashion. (Photo- PKL)
In the 101st match of Pro Kabaddi League 2025, U Mumba confirmed its place in the top-4 by defeating Jaipur Pink Panthers 37-36 in a thrilling and tough match at Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium. The brilliant performance of Ajit Chavan (15 points) and Parvesh Bhainswal (7 points) gave U Mumba its 10th win in 17 matches, while captain Sunil Kumar also made an important contribution. On the other hand, Nitin Dhankhar (13 points), Parvinder (5 points) and Himanshu Khatri (5 points) played well for Jaipur, but the team had to face its ninth defeat in 17 matches.
U Mumba won in exciting fashion
At the beginning of the match both the teams were on equal footing. Jaipur’s Nitin tried to give his team the lead by dismissing U Mumba captain Sunil three times in a row, but U Mumba took a lead of 4-3 after three minutes. Nitin then gave Jaipur an 8-6 lead with a multi-point raid. Jaipur won the first quarter by 9-8. Mumba made a strong comeback in the second quarter. Mumba soon brought Jaipur to the brink of all out and then took a 10-point lead at halftime with a lead of 19-12.
After halftime, Parvesh further strengthened Mumba’s defense by completing a high-5. Ajit displayed brilliant raiding with Super-10, which broke the defense of Jaipur. However, Jaipur tried to make a comeback with Parvinder’s Super Raid and reduced Mumba to two players and reduced the score from 29-22 to 29-26. In the last moments, Jaipur reduced the gap to one point, but Mumba maintained its composure and took a lead of four points. Nitin made a mistake in the last minutes, but Mumba’s defense tackled Parvinder and ensured the victory.
Strong victory of Haryana Steelers
In the second match of the day, Haryana Steelers not only confirmed their playoff seat by defeating Gujarat Giants by a huge margin of 50-32, but also gave Jaipur Pink Panthers a place in the top-8. With this victory, seven out of eight playoff places have been decided in this season of PKL, in which Puneri Paltan and Dabang Delhi remain in the top-2. Four teams are still in the fight for the last place.
In this spectacular victory of Haryana, the contribution of their star raiders Shivam Patare (17 points) and Vinay (14 points) were important, while defender Neeraj provided strong support with four tackle points. On the other hand, Himanshu Singh played a brilliant inning of 15 points for Gujarat, but he could not save his team from its 11th defeat of the season. Haryana registered its ninth win in 17 matches.